Ronin (film)

Ronin is a 1998 film which tells the story of a group of former intelligence agents who team up to steal a mysterious metal case. It stars Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, Skipp Sudduth, and Katarina Witt.

Related Topics:
1998 - Robert De Niro - Jean Reno - Natascha McElhone - Stellan Skarsgård - Sean Bean - Skipp Sudduth - Katarina Witt

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The movie was written by J.D. Zeik and David Mamet, and directed by John Frankenheimer. David Mamet served as a script doctor on the screenplay, being billed as "Richard Wiesz". The Writers' Guild refused to allow him to get top billing for the writing credit, so he refused to allow his real name to be used.

Related Topics:
J.D. Zeik - David Mamet - John Frankenheimer - Writers' Guild

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The title is derived from the Japanese term ronin, used for samurai who had no master; some of the characters in the movie are unemployed agents set adrift by the end of the Cold War. The movie also makes a lengthy reference to the classic Japanese story, the 47 Ronin.

Related Topics:
Japan - Ronin - Samurai - Cold War - 47 Ronin

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It is notable for a number of fine car chase scenes, the last being a particularly fantastic and lengthy one through the streets and tunnels of Paris; some scenes utilized up to 150 stunt drivers. Excellent car work has been a specialty of Frankenheimer, a former racing driver, ever since his 1966 classic, Grand Prix. Although action sequences are often shot by a second unit director, Frankenheimer did all these himself. While he was aware of the many innovations in digital special effects since then, he elected to film all these sequences live, to obtain the maximum level of authenticity. To further this, many of the high-speed shots have the actual actors in the cars: Sudduth did nearly all of his own driving - crashes were handled by a stuntman.

Related Topics:
Car chase - Paris - 1966 - Grand Prix - Special effects

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The contents of the metal case are never revealed (see MacGuffin). Mamet has written that he believes revealing such details can be anticlimactic, that a director is wiser to allow the audience's imagination to answer the question. This is a technique Mamet has used repeatedly in his films.

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Ron Jeremy has a bit role, credited as Hyatt. However, scenes involving him were eventually cut by the studio.

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